DO SOMETHING NEW!
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily for this 5th Sunday in
Lent [C] is, “Drop the Rocks! Do Something New!”
Actually the word in today’s gospel is, “stones” - but
the word “rock” has more energy to it. ROCK!
As you know the original language of the New Testament is
Greek. It uses the word “lithos” which
can be translated into English as stone or rock.
We’re coming to the 5th Week in Lent - and I
hear people say, “Oooh! I really haven’t done anything special for Lent yet.”
Solution: Well, do something new. Drop the rocks. Stop
throwing verbal stones at people. We have two weeks left in Lent to try this.
Do something new. Drop the rocks. Zip the lips. Stop sinking other’s ships.
Stop the gossip. Stop the comments about the boss or the
neighbor or the family member or in-law. Stop ruining coffee breaks or happy
hours by throwing around sharp edged rocky comments.
The title of my homily is, “Drop the Rocks. Do Something
New.”
TODAY’S GOSPEL
Today’s gospel story about the woman caught in adultery
and these guys who want to kill her is a story we’ve been hearing since we were
kids.
KISS. Keep it simple stupid.
The message from Jesus is quite clear, simple, and precise. We get it. All of us make mistakes - so stop attacking
those who make mistakes - those who do MIS
TAKES on life.
The story has interesting nuances.
First nuance…. Hopefully, the older we are, the more
forgiving we ought to be.
Reason: we’ve committed more sins than the younger folks.
We’ve been there. We’ve done that. We’ve had plenty of time to look at re-runs
of our life. Oooh! We’ve not only done the good - but we’ve also done the bad
and the ugly as well.
Second nuance…. Manipulation….
The story teller - tells us that these men are using this
woman - using this situation - not to get the woman - but to get Jesus.
How many times have we done that? We use someone else to get someone else? We
bring up other people’s mistakes in hopes of getting someone else to look
at their mistakes or mannerisms that bother us. We feel we’re standing taller
when we’re standing on top of someone whose reputation we have killed.
CHOICE OF WEAPONS
If we want to get someone, we’ll tend to reach for any
weapon we can get our hands on. That’s why someone people are scared of having
easy access to guns. In the meanwhile we all have easy access to our mouth.
I ask couples, “What’s your weapon of choice?”
And they often look at me with a puzzled, twisted or wrinkled
face.
“What do you mean?” they finally ask.
“Well, do you use silence - silence to make the other
squirm - so they will know something’s wrong?”
“Or do you bring up the past - mistakes that the other made 26 years, 34 days, 16 hours and
11 minutes ago?”
“Or do you do the fishing expedition trick. ‘You know what
I’m angry about. You know!’”
That’s often a good one - because we might catch
something we didn’t know about.
If angry, any weapon will do.
I like shoot-em-up movies and the super dooper action
hero grabs ball point pens or plates or computer wires or what have you to
fight off the other guy. Jackie Chan is great at this. So too the Jason Bourne
movies with Matt Damon or Uma Thurman as Beatrix Kiddo in the Kill Bill I and
II movies.
I remember seeing a neat bronze statute sculpted by the
Russian artist, Ivan Shadr. It’s entitled,
“Stones [or Cobblestones] are the
Weapons of the Proletariat.” It’s a 1927 statue of a guy who is picking up a big
stone to throw at the soldiers - who are guarding the powers that be and the
status quo.
I think of that picture when I see riots on TV in Baltimore or Chicago or
wherever.
If we’re fighting with each other, anything will do, if
we want to get at or get back at another - we fight with what’s at hand.
I remember a mother telling me she had broken her whole
china closet of good plates at least 3 times - throwing them against the wall -
as a way of telling her 5 kids, “Enough is enough is enough is enough.”
She said it was worth it. They got the message that mom
is not happy with us kids - and that would last for at least 3 years.
So once more, what is my weapon of choice? What are the arguments I find myself in the
middle of on a regular basis? What do I get angry at? What works?
So once more, am I being fair? Am I attacking others,
because I don’t want to face myself - or something about myself?
So once more, what have I learned about life so far? Have
I become more understanding, more forgiving, more giving, as life has gone on -
especially from my mistakes.
I always like to remember a promise I made to myself when I was about 10 years
old. An old man on our block - if our Spaldeen - or pink ball - went into his
front yard when we were playing stick ball - he would not let us get it. He was being mean. I can always see him
standing there - Mr. Meany! - whatever his name was - not allowing himself to
be a child again - and let enjoy kids playing ball on the street. So I resolved
then and there - at the age of 10 - not
to be like that in my life. Have I succeeded? Ask those who know me.
As life has gone on I’ve seen priests and police and
parents who were grouches or grippy about life - and I’ve wondered, “Are they
taking out on others how they were treated when they were kids?”
CONCLUSION
The title of my homily is, “Drop the Rocks! Do Something
New.”
It’s still Lent - do something new.
Today’s first reading from Isaiah 43: 19 says just that,
“See, I am doing something new!”
In context that text goes like this, “Remember not the
events of the past, the things of long ago consider not; see, I am doing
something new!”
The older I get - the more I think - when I see stuff
going on - that - what’s happening here and now - is not what’s happening here
and now - but something from long ago.
Like these rock throwing killings in Islam and word rock
throwing at family fights. I often wonder: “What’s really going on there?”
Can’t we hear what’s being said in today’s readings?
Isaiah is saying forget the past - do something new.
Paul is saying the same thing in today’s second reading when
he says, “forget what’s lying behind and hear Jesus’ calls to pursue the new.
Hear Jesus saying in today’s gospel, “Drop the rocks, open your hands and your
heart and your mind and fill yourself with new life. Amen."
